Chapter 13 : The Twelfth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD
She safeguards her children at the hour of death and provides them with their passport to Heaven
Continuing our translation of the 1845 reprint of Fr François Poiré’s Triple Crown of the Mother of God (1643 French edition).
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| Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac (Poggi, 2020) |
§ 3. How the Holy Virgin prepares her children for the surprise and uncertainty of death
Elizabeth Picenardi and Peter of Alcántara
7 Elizabeth Picenardi was a most devout member of the Order of Servites or Servants of the Holy Virgin and she departed from this life on the 19th of February 1468 in the city of Mantua. It was written[1] of her that:
She was on such familiar terms with the glorious Virgin that she was frequently heard having discussions with her during her prayer. The belief that the Holy Virgin would not refuse anything that Elizabeth asked her became so widespread amongst the inhabitants of Mantua that she came to be called the Referendary[2] of the Holy Virgin. All those suffering from some bodily or spiritual problems would have recourse to her as though visiting a refuge for the afflicted. Before she departed this life, she was visited by the Holy Virgin who told her to make ready for her end which was approaching and that soon she would see her in Heaven.
She bestowed the same favour upon her good and faithful servant Peter of Alcántara, a friar in the Discalced Franciscans[3]. Blessed St Theresa of Jesus Speaks most highly of him at various points in her autobiography.
The holy Mother assured him that he would be numbered amongst the saved and it was in a rapture of happiness that he started to sing Psalm CXXI, beginning with the words Lætatus sum in his quæ dicta sunt mihi[4], and continuing right to the end.
Footnotes
[1] Chronicon Ordinis.
[2] Referendary : Any of various officials in the papal, imperial, patriarchal, and some royal courts, charged with the duty of examining and reporting on petitions, requests and similar matters; the title given to such an official. From post-classical Latin referendarius: court dignitary who receives petitions.
[3] Who died on the 18th October, 1562.
[4] Lib. IV, c. 17.
Fr Piotr Skarga and Fr Jerome Carvalho
8 What happened to the Jesuit priest Fr Piotr Skarga is worth recalling here.
This was a man filled with zeal and virtue who served as preacher in ordinary to two Kings of Poland, Stephen and Sigismund. During the twenty-four years that he was at Court, he advanced the honour and service of God and His most Holy Mother in hundreds of ways. When he attained the age of seventy-seven, he finally sought permission from the King and his superiors to go and finish his days in the college at Kraków where something would happen which was no less remarkable than it was unique. A short while before his death, he made a candle of white wax and sent it to Our Lady of Częstochowa, of great renown throughout Poland, so that it might be lit in front of the image of the blessed Virgin. It was seen to go out at the very moment that Fr Skarga’s life came to an end, prompting people to think this apparent coincidence was in fact the result of some unknown understanding between the Holy Virgin and him.
The case of another Jesuit priest, Fr Jerome Carvallo, is no less a source of wonderment.
In his life, his devotion and mortification were so closely conjoined that just as he never spent less than six hours in prayer every day, so too he always wore a triple hair shirt which covered him from his neck to his knees, to which he added at least three scourgings he administered to himself every day. One day, when he seemed to be as hale and hearty as he had ever been, he declared confidently that he would die a few days later. Those who heard him speak in this way had no difficulty in believing his prediction, despite there being no human signs of any illness, because they could not bring themselves to doubt the word of someone whom they acknowledged was a great servant of God. The way events unfolded soon removed any doubts they might have had. What astonished them much more was that after his death a sheet of paper was found on which the following words were written in his own hand, dated 1589: I have only fifteen more years left to live. Beneath this, he had written five years later: I shall die in ten years’ time. This proved to be the case, for he died in the year 16O4 aged sixty. There was no one amongst all those who knew of his exceptional devotion towards the MOTHER OF GOD who did not feel certain that he had received this foreknowledge from the Blessed Virgin, his loving Mother.
Fr Martín Gutiérrez
9 We shall now consider another person whose knowledge and virtue were so far above the average that they added lustre to the Society of Jesus throughout the whole of Spain : Fr Martín Gutiérrez, whose soul was seen by St Theresa at the moment it left earth and soared heavenwards in triumph bearing the martyr’s crown.
He had received many graces and favours from the MOTHER OF GOD but amongst these was one that he received while he was passing through Languedoc on his way to Rome in the year 1573 when she revealed to him that he was to die in eight days’ time. His death was all the more glorious because he received it at the hands of heretics out of hatred for the Catholic religion. After his death, something highly memorable occurred which I cannot pass over in silence : a lady dressed according to the French fashion came to see Fr Suarez (his travelling companion) and asked him if any of his brethren had recently died. When she was told that this was indeed the case she asked him for permission to see the remains of the deceased and then pulled out a beautiful white linen cloth that she had brought with her, using it to swathe the body her own hands. After giving a blessing, she then took her leave, refusing to accept the money which Fr Suarez offered to her for the cloth and he was never able to discover who this lady was. The Mother of goodness knows if this was indeed herself who came to render this final service to her devoted servant or whether it was some mortal creature in whom she inspired the thought.
St Arnold
10 St Arnold was a Bishop of Soissons[1] who descended from the Dukes of Louvain and the Counts of Namur. His happy departure from this world is worthy of eternal memory.
One Saturday, on the eve of the Assumption, he called his family together and told them to make ready everything that would be needed for his funeral. He told them that he was to die at nightfall and explain this as follows:“I’m sure you can all remember the earthquake which terrified people yesterday on three separate occasions. With the first tremor, I was visited by the Blessed Apostle St Paul who brought me the good news that my sins had been forgiven and that this had opened up Heaven for me. After the second tremor, the glorious Archangel St Michael promised me that he would come at the head of a group of Blessed spirits to accompany my soul to Heaven. Finally, the Mother of mercy granted me the favour of coming in person to invite me to share in the triumph of her Assumption tomorrow.”At three o'clock, he received the last Rites and as the day was drawing to a close he lay flat on the ground resting on ashes and hair-cloth, whence in no time at all his blessed soul departed from his body and soared up towards Heaven.
Footnotes
[1] Lisander, Episc. Suess., in ejus Vita, c. 4 et 5 ; Surius, 15 Aug.
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| The Virgin of Tenderness. >12th century. |
SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
© Peter Bloor 2025
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